The prominent atheist is stepping down from his post at Oxford University to write a book aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in “anti-scientific” fairytales.

Prof Hawkins said: “The book I write next year will be a children’s book on how to think about the world, science thinking contrasted with mythical thinking.

I don’t want to get too involved with this topic right now (we’ll talk about it on our next podcast), but I will say that I’ve read a portion of Dawkins books, and, while I think there is certainly truth to some of his arguments, the guy has a profound misunderstanding of what it means to be a human being.

To be honest, if Dawkins took issue with the Christian content of the Harry Potter books, with the obviously central theme of faith in the series, and J.K. Rowling’s tacit position that faith is the ultimate redeeming quality that Man must strive for in order to combat evil, I’d have no problem with that. But that doesn’t appear to be the case. According to the article, Dawkins just doesn’t like kids using their imagination:

“I think looking back to my own childhood, the fact that so many of the stories I read allowed the possibility of frogs turning into princes, whether that has a sort of insidious affect on rationality, I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s something for research.”

To Dawkins, we are all meant to be purely rational and logical, and anything fanciful, anything stemming from the imagination, is a perversion of our nature (surprising that an evolutionary biologist would take this approach, but that’s another story). There’s no question that indulging in one’s imaginative side too much can be detrimental, to one’s self and others, but to banish imagination from the realm of human experience seems, to me, ridiculous. Would the Wright Brother’s ever have discovered flight, if Icarus had never flown too high? I don’t think so.

Dawkins is no different than those that seek to label Harry Potter as witchcraft: unable to appreciate the deeper meaning that a story holds.

We don’t have much to talk about this week.  It’s October which means we have to announce the winner of our September Beedle the Bard YouTube contest.  And we do, in the podcast.  So take a listen!  Also, we were at the New York City Wizard Rock Festival (which, after typing that out, I now know why everyone referred to as NYCWRF).  It was awesome, we got to hear lots of amazing bands, and meet lots of amazing people.  If you were there, let us know what you thought of it!

And that’s about it!  Stay tuned we’ve got some good stuff coming in the next few weeks.  And make sure to check out HPProgs on YouTube, and enter the Beedle the Bard YouTube contest, if you haven’t alraedy (or even if you have, enter again!).  You could win a copy of the deluxe edition of the new Beedle the Bard book coming out in December.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

A big thanks to Steve for taking the time to talk with us.

Check out Steve’s new book entitled In Search of Harry Potter.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

Don’t forget to get your entries in for the Harry Potter/Beedle the Bard/YouTube Contest!  You can win a free copy of the Deluxe edition of the new Beedle the Bard book (that’s the $100 fancy version).

You can listen to the episode with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

In this episode, we discuss the delay, assorted other goings-on, along with a tangential discussion on the recurring occurrences of eyes in Deathly Hallows (first spotted by John Granger – sorry I can’t find the exact link), and what this might (or mightn’t) mean.

Stay tuned for details on our Beedle the Bard contest, we will be putting out rules in the coming days.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

Putting aside a scientific discussion of free will and determinism, a greater question, from within the stories themselves, comes to light. With the conclusion of Book 7, and the revelation of Dumbledore’s less than altruistic motives, does J.K. Rowling’s position on free will and choice change? Did Harry, in fact, make all those choices of his own free will, or, perhaps, was he influenced by forces beyond his control? Despite Dumbledore’s protestations to the contrary, could Harry ever have avoided the final showdown with the Dark Lord, had he simply chosen to walk away?

In this week’s episode, we examine the nature of free will and choice as presented in the books after Book 7, and what J.K. Rowling might be saying about what it means to be free.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at audiblepodcast.com/hp.

Check out some of the books we talked about on this week’s episode.

Make sure to check out Penny’s post Deathly Hallows: One Year Later for a rundown on all that’s happened since Book 7 was released.

You can listen to this episode using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

If you were there, leave a comment or send us an email.  And make sure to check out www.hp2009.org for Azkatraz, in San Francisco!  Hope to see you there!

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at audiblepodcast.com/hp.

Don’t forget to check out Harry Potter Prognostications on the new Odeo.  Subscribe, why dontcha?

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download directly as an mp3.

You can leave comments or call our voicemail at 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

Make sure to check out our channel on the new Odeo.  Subscribe, rate, review, it’s all good, check it out.

In the news:

•  Harry Potter makes it to Entertainment Weekly’s “1000 New Classics”. Greg has big time issues with this.
• Thirty new international release dates for the Half Blood Prince movie.  My guess is that the movie will be released internationally before we see the teaser trailer.
• You can now buy the Deluxe Edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for $13.00!!!  Wow. Good deal.
• JK Rowling gets an Edinburgh Award. Greg imitates Sean Connery.

You can listen to this episode with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

What do you think? Could this be the new Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie poster? (Hat tip to Bill)

In the news:

• In honor of the 10th anniversary of the US release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Scholastic will be releasing a new edition of that book with new art.
• Winner of the Amazon Beedle the Bard contest was announced. Congratulations Rhiannon D. of Australia!
• Sadly, the actor who portrayed Marcus Belby in the HBP movie was killed last week. Our sympathies go out to the family of Rober Knox.
• Will the Half Blood Prince trailer come before “Get Smart?” Your guess is as good as our’s.
• JK Rowling has written an 800 word portion of a Harry Potter prequel. Don’t get your hopes up, she has no intention of writing the rest.

We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

Today is a new month (June, for those of you who have been hiding under a rock), so please vote for us on Podcast Alley and as always rate and review us on iTunes and Odeo.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download an mp3 directly.

Send us your thoughts, we look forward to hearing from you! You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

In the news:

• Vote for the Beedle The Bard winner.
• JK Rowling received Auther Of The Year Award. Again.
• Emma Watson made Maxim’s Hot 100 List.  Penny came in right before her though.
• No Moaning Myrtle in Half Blood Prince. The actress who plays her is busy checking out nursing homes (oh snap, that was mean.  I know.  I apologize to Shirley Henderson, but come on- she is old.)
• JK Rowling to write a “Story Card” with other notable authors.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

And, the news:

• Radcliffe, Leung nominated for Best Kiss. BORING.
• Lavender Brown interviewed. Not the real Lavender Brown, mind you.
• Aerial footage of the Potter movie set at Leavesden Studios. This is very cool.
• J.K. Rowling won a trial. Not the trial we’re all interested in, but a trial nonetheless.

Also, check out Pensieve Memories, a new Harry Potter forum.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download directly as an mp3.

Speaking of accents, we played a voicemail from Potter’s Number One Fan in which he picked up Greg’s gauntlet and gave us a multi-character Harry Potter narration. Excellent job, in my opinion.

We finished off the episode with the introduction to Patterns In Potter for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. You’ll have to trust that we are telling the truth when we say that Book 5 has a good theme.

As promised the links to the court transcripts are here. Thanks to Cris for the tip:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
  

It is a new month so please vote for us on Podcast Alley and as always rate and review us on iTunes and Odeo.

Finally, HPProgs has a Twitter account so please join in the fun and start following us so you can get all of our updates!

We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

The trial over Steve Vander Ark and his Harry Potter Lexicon continued today in New York, in what appears to be the final day of testimony. According to the WSJ Law Blog (which may be suing HPProgs for copyright, as we’ve been linking to and excerpting from the quite liberally), the defense (i.e. SVA and RDR) seemed to have the upper hand coming out of today’s session. HPProgs legal analysts (read: hacks) think this might indicate that the judge really favors Rowling, but was testing their side more rigourously to see how they stood up to scrutiny. More likely, though, he’s leaning towards RDR/SVA.

The WSJ also posted an interview with an IP lawyer who gave his opinion on the case (long story short: too close to call). Did we mention that Anthony Falzone, one of the attorneys for the defense, used basically the same argument we did in yesterday’s podcast discussing the trial? He must be a listener (we’ll send you a bill).

In the meantime, more information has come to light. Commentor Bill posted a link to a site that contains most of the information that has been submitted for the case (I think lawyers call these things affidavits). Included in Bill’s comment was an excerpt of an email exchange between SVA and JKR’s representatives; what emerges is a very disturbing picture of a case of an obsessed fan taking things too far. This, of course, has no bearing on the legality of the Lexicon as a published work, but certainly adds a nice amount of drama and context to the entire affair.

Check back tomorrow for more updates on the trial. We here at HPProgs are hoping for a settlement; short of that, we’ve got two galleons on RDR/SVA.

In the mean time, if you have a thought or opinion about the case, leave a comment or a message and we’ll play it our next podcast. We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

No news this week, other than, you know, that court thingee. We will continue the Patterns in Potter series next week, beginning Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

Shoutout to our listener, Robert Kingett,  and his podcast: www.freewebs.com/4yoinformation.

As always, feel free to rate and review us on iTunes and vote for us on Podcast Alley (It is a new month!).

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

In the news:

• Nick Kids chose Potter again.
• Bloomsbury has a lot to thank Potter for.
• College kids love muggle Quidditch.
• JK Rowling’s work will be in a Birthday Book for Prince Charles.
• Transcript of JKR’s talk when she received the James Joyce Award.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

As always we look forward to hearing from you.  You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK.  Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

As always, feel free to rate and review us on iTunes and vote for us on Podcast Alley (new month next week!!)- remember, WE ARE THE NUMBER 3 HARRY POTTER PODCAST!!!

In the news:

• JK Rowling will be in New York next month to appear as a witness in the lawsuit against RDR Publishers.
• Reacting to some of Steve Vander Ark’s comments concerning the RDR/JKR lawsuit, The Leaky Cauldron has decided to sever ties with Vander Ark. In a related announcement, HPProgs is offering an open invitation to Steve Vander Ark to talk to us (we are shameless, we know).
• JK Rowling has gone into more detail about the depression she suffered in her younger years.
• Nickelodeon Magazine is offering a chance for one lucky kid (ours, sorry everyone) to win a trip to the LA Premiere of HBP.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

We had some voicemails and we urge you to keep sending them, as well as your comments, in!We also discussed the news about the Deathly Hallows Movie being split into two.  

Finally, Greg made an exciting work-related (yet not completely HPProgs unrelated) announcement (hint, check out http://beta.odeo.com/) that we look forward to sharing with all of you!

If you want to send in voicemails you can call 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. As always, we look forward to hearing your comments, thoughts, and suggestions. Be in touch!

 You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

Warning: there is some explicit language, so don’t watch if that’s a concern.

We plan on interviewing Dr. Jeffrey Rudski this week to talk about Harry Potter Addiction and we hope to have that on the next episode.

We got some great listener comments from Rosie and Victoria. We now have a number for you to call in the US if you want to send us voicemails. You can call 206-337-0357and in the UK, please call 07092 899490. As always, please leave your comments as close to one minute as possible.

It is a new month so don’t forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley(the link makes it *really* easy for you)!

Finally, if you downloaded this episode before Monday morning March 3- 9am EST, you downloaded the unedited version which we put up on iTunes by mistake. There aren’t any good bloopers in it or anything, just a bunch of ums, you knows and throat clears. Also, the mp3 comments are not inserted. So go ahead and re-download the episode. We apologize for the inconvenience.

In the news:

• Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson made EW’s 30 under 30 list. In a related story, we made EW’s Over 30 and Overweight list.
• It turns out that JK Rowling doesn’t *really* use Myspace. Shoot, now I have to figure out who I have been trying to get to read my fanfiction.
• Update on JKR/WB lawsuit against SVA/RDR. ROFL. Not really but I wanted to feel part of the whole *initials* thing.

You can listen to the episode using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

It is a new month, so please help us out by voting for us on Podcast Alley. Much appreciated.

In the news:

• JK Rowling to be the guest speaker at Harvard commencement ceremonies. If you are in Harvard, we would love to be part of your extended family at this special time.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie won a Golden Tomato Award.
• Alan Rickman does not talk about the character of Severus Snape.
• Filming for HBP has started in Gloucester.
• Ace of Cakes premeired last week with a cake that was used at the LA Premiere of OoTP. Duff Goldman, if you googled your name and are reading this- we want you to come on our show. We are in Baltimore. You rawk!!!!!!!!!!!!
• It doesn’t look like Del Toro will be directing Deathly Hallows.
• JK Rowling has received a South Bank Award. She spoke of her split from Harry being more painful than any relationship ending.
• Lord Richard Attenborough feels left out of all the Potter-hoopla.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download an mp3 directly.

If you want to cheat (or can’t listen to the show), check out the original blog post.

And: we want your help!  For each episode, we want your thoughts, comments and ideas.  Either email them to us (harrypotterprogs AT yahoo DOT com) or record your thoughts on an mp3 and email them to us.  We’ll incorporate them into the show.

In the News:

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix nominated for 2 BAFTA awards.
• Will Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie be split into 2?
• JK Rowling and WB have filed a full injunction against RDR Publishers and Steve Vander Ark to stop the HP-Lexicon from being published.
• First set of all seven signed Harry Potter books was auctioned off in Scotland to support a rugby club.
• The Vatican is stirring up the anti-Potter waters again.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

Referenced in our discussion is the book Forty Ways to Look at Winston Chuchhill: A Breif Account of a Long Life.

In the News:

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has been nominated for four awards from the Visual Effects Socity.
• Guillermo Del Toro hopes to direct Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Movie Drama
• Raincoast Books is shutting down its publishing division.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

In the news:

• Amazon.com bought “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”. Awesome reviews on their website .
• As mentioned before on HP Progs, JK Rowling came in 3rd for Time’s Person of the Year. Better luck next time you finish writing the world’s most popular book series that turned a generation back on to reading and inspired millions of people, Jo.
• JK Rowling gave her Fan Site Award to the Harry Potter Alliance. Next year, HP Progs (assuming that Greg ever writes his thank-you letter).
• New actors announced for minor roles in HBP movie.  Phew. I haven’t been sleeping at night wondering about who would play Marcus Belby.
• Stephen Colbert bested JK Rowling in the AP’s “Celebrity of the Year” .  As a member of “Colbert Nation”, I am happy for Stephen but think this is ridiculous.
• JK Rowling types REALLY fast.  You can see a video of her finishing Deathly Hallows. Thanks, ITV.

We are happy to announce that we will be attending Portus 2008, the Harry Potter symposium which will be held in Dallas, TX from July 10-13, 2008.  We will also be taking part in the Portus Podcast Palooza while we are there.  You may remember what a fantastic time we had at Prophecy 2007-  we hope you can join us this year!!

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

You can listen to the call-in show with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

Check out the Amazon page for The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and make sure to check back, as Amazon is promising to post additional information, pictures and more.

Joining us on this week’s episode is Travis Prinzi, proprietor of SwordOfGryffindor.com. Travis’ background in philosophy and literature were especially enlightening in this discussion.

Here is a link to the interview that Travis mentioned on the show: Phillip Pullman and Peter Chataway, an award-winning Christian film critic.
In the news:

• JK Rowling talked about Multiple Sclerosis on “Your Total Health”.
• The Potter actors (not Chris Rankin) are on ANOTHER Forbes list.

You can listen to this podcast with the player below, or download an mp3 directly.

For fun, take a look back at an old, old Draco prognostication, circa Goblet of Fire.

Make sure to tune in next week for what looks to be a really great show.  Travis Prinzi from Sword of Gryffindor will be our guest on the show.

In the news:

• JK Rowling is Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainer of The Year.
• Good Morning America previewed “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”.
• Harry Potter, the character, makes it onto Details Magazines “50 Most Influential Men Under 45″.
• JK Rowling received a 2007 Writers’ Guild Award.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download an mp3 directly.

Happy Thanksgiving! Instead of going shopping with everyone else in the world, why not order yourself (or a loved one) a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on DVD? Or get them one of our original Harry Potter t-shirts?

In the news:

• Vote for JK Rowling to win Time’s Person of the year.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is up for a People’s Choice award.
• Casting complete for HBP. Lavender not being kept brown.
• JK Rowling has updated the Rubbish Bin on her website as well as offered more information on the Lexicon Lawsuit.
• WB giving fans the opportunity to win a trip to the HBP set.
• News on James Potter and the Elder’s Crossing.
• Spanish translations of DH coming out in February.
• JK Rowling is one rich lady.
• Beetle the Bard will be on display at Sotheby’s.

UPDATE: We appreciate everyone’s patience with this week’s podcast. Unfortunately the podcast hosting service we were using was a bit messed up so the podcast wasn’t working- but we think it is fixed now. Please let us know if you have any more difficulty with it!

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

You can now Pre Order Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! Just in time for the holidays, and it goes great with an HPProgs original Always T-shirt!!)